The Haunted Mansion
by NintendoGal55
Summary: Based upon Luigi's Mansion. Sally wins a mansion in a contest that she never even entered. When Jack goes missing after investigating the matter, she takes it upon herself to find him in the haunted mansion, armed with the Poltergust 3000 and Flubber.
1. Going To The Mansion

**This story is most definitely based on **_**Luigi's Mansion**_**. :D It's not the same mansion, buuuut...the Poltergust 3000 will be included! ;) **

**Like in the original game, we had the "side" main character come in to save the usual hero! Sally will be saving Jack! :D Hooray!**

**As I said, this story will be based very heavily on **_**Luigi's Mansion**_**, since the main monsters will of course be ghosts. There will also be shades of Silent Hill thrown in as well, and of course my own flares, and mixing the two together somehow.**

**The title obviously comes from the attraction at Disneyland in California, where Jack and Sally usually reside before they come out! Soul Robber comes from the game **_**Oogie's Revenge**_**. Which didn't happen in this story, but the invention did!**

**Oh, and I call it Flubber. Why? Because it's green! It's green, it bounces, it expands, it can take on different shapes...IT'S FUCKING FLUBBER!**

**So I'll be calling him Flubber! :D**

**Disclaimer:**

**Luigi's Mansion-Nintendo**

**TNBC and characters-Tim Burton**

XXX

The forest far beyond Halloween Town was, needless to say, very dark. Darker than night. The cluster of trees were thick, making the forest very dense, with only a single pathway that allowed passage through it. A full moon hung overhead in the sky, but even that didn't help matters.

A wolf howled in the distance, the flutter of bat wings could be heard above in the branches as they flew off and around quite rapidly, dead leaves crunched beneath her feet, along with the occasional snap of a twig.

Looking again at a crudely drawn map, Sally Skellington sighed as she shook her head and pointed her firefly flashlight further up ahead along the path. She was trying to find a mansion she had won in a contest.

A contest she had never even entered. Who was even organizing it? Who gave away mansions in a contest, anyway? There was something very suspicious about it. She had gotten a letter the day before, containing the letter proclaiming her win, and also a crudely drawn map to the mansion. It was all so very bizarre.

This of course led Jack Skellington, her husband and the Pumpkin King, to be very suspicious of this. As excited as he was for her in winning something, he felt that something didn't add up at all. She had never entered any kind of contest, and it was also pretty weird to be winning a mansion of all things. He suspected it was some kind of an elaborate trap. So, Jack had taken it upon himself to find the mansion and check it out, to see what was going on. An elaborate prank? Or was it really true?

That was a day ago. Jack had not come back. There was no sign of him at all. The plan was that he was going to find the mansion, check things out, and then come right back as soon as the verdict was set.

Sally was worried. Everyone else in town was worried too, since Jack had been gone for nearly two days at this point. It was worrisome. So that night, Sally decided to try to find him herself. It was impulsive, but she wanted to ensure he was safe. She was the Pumpkin Queen, after all, it only made sense. She had at first sent Zero to try to find him, and he had come back, managing to tell her that Jack was missing.

So now, armed with a flashlight and the map, she was venturing out to try to find her beloved. Hoping against all hope that he was all right.

Suddenly, the path on either side became clearer, less adorned with thick clusters of trees. That told Sally that she was finally emerging from the forest. Indeed she was, because she now came out onto clearer, open ground. She was glad of that.

But her celebration only lasted for a second.

Ahead of her on the path, was a mansion.

It stood three stories tall, with two lighted windows above the main entrance doors, making the said windows look more like evil, sneering _eyes_. The mansion itself was of old time gothic style, parapets of stone and arched windows to be seen all around. Four large turrets, rising quite ominously toward the sky, graced along the roof. From the look of things, it seemed so dark, so deserted.

Lightning struck, crows cawed nearby, and more bats flew rapidly up above.

Sally checked the map, seeing that it was indeed the mansion indicated on the map. But what was it doing in the middle of nowhere? To add to the creepy and nightmarish factor?

Either way, Sally felt uneasy. Very uneasy. There was something very unsettling, nerve-wracking, strange, creepy, and above all horrifying about all of this.

And neither of them of the good kind.

She stepped slowly toward the entrance, her hands shaking as she tried to hold the flashlight steady. Already she just wanted to turn back and get away from here, to forget this horrific place even existed. Unfortunately, that was not an option. Jack was somewhere in there. Possibly trapped, or worse, and she was not going to leave this place until she found him. Dead or undead.

Thunder rumbled, lightning flashed again, making Sally jump a little as she ascended the stairs. Before she knew it, she was on the front step of the mansion. Two tall, gothic, dark doors stood before her. Each had monstrous-looking door knockers, with round, silver door handles.

Slowly, Sally approached, reaching out for one of the handles with her free hand. The uneasy feeling only grew stronger as she was getting closer and closer to this place.

"I'm coming, Jack..." She said softly, biting her lip in nervousness.

Her hand turned the knob, making it squeak, and then slowly pushed it open. Just as she expected, it creaked. _Loudly_. A typical Halloween scare tactic.

Only this wasn't so scary that it was fun. It was so scary that it was scary.

Sally pushed the door open further, peering inside with her flashlight. "H-Hello?" She called inside.

After a few moments, she cautiously stepped inside, coming into the foyer. It was pretty big and spacious, as well as creepy. Ahead of her were two more double doors, which resembled the front entrance doors, only smaller. There were two staircases, one on either side of the room, leading to an upstairs landing, where another set of double doors were. It was very, very dark in the room. No source of light, save for her flashlight. There was a chandelier above her head, and some candles on the walls, but none were lit up.

"Jack? Jack! Jack, where are you?" Sally called in the room, even though she had a pretty good idea of how stupid that was.

Unfortunately, she didn't know what else to do.

She tried one of the doors ahead of her. As expected, they were locked.

SLAM!

The sudden slamming of the entrance door behind her caught her off guard and made her jump, and yet she berated herself for not having seen it coming.

Refusing to dwell on it, Sally perked as she caught something up above her. Near the landing of the stairs, she saw something moving. Shining her flashlight onto it, she was surprised to see a _floating key_. It was literally a key floating in middair. No hand or any other source was holding it.

The key suddenly moved up away, and then it fell to the floor right up against the second floor doors. Curious now, Sally went up the stairs, and came to the key. She tapped it lightly with her foot. Nothing. It was just laying there on the floor. But how was it floating earlier?

_Maybe I'm just going crazy._ She thought with a sigh.

She bent down, and picked up the key, examining it. There was nothing strange about the key. It looked like any other kind of key, even if it did have a flat skull head at one end. None the less, a key was a key. She had a pretty good guess as to what door it went to.

Gulping, Sally went to the doors ahead, and carefully inserted the key into the lock, turning it. There was a satisfying clicking noise before she reached for the door handle. Grasping it, she turned it, and very slowly pulled it open.

The room was dark, as she expected. It was actually a corridor, with four doors. Two on either side.

She tried the first door on her right, and it didn't open. It wasn't locked or stuck, but the lock was broken, therefore rendering it completely useless. So she tried the door adjacent to it, which opened.

The room she came into looked to be a parlour, and like the corridor and the foyer, it was very dark.

Shelves upon shelves of books stood against the wall across the room, a desk sat nearby with books and papers strewn about its surface, the chair was pulled out a few feet, as if someone had just gotten up and left. That was what it all seemed to be, not abandoned, but as if no one was home.

But why did she suddenly feel so uneasy?

She then spotted something on the desk, much to her surprise.

It was a pocket radio.

Going over to the desk, she picked it up, inspecting it curiously.

"A radio? ...But who would leave a radio here? I wonder if it works..." She murmured to herself.

Sally fiddled with the knobs and switches, even tapping it lightly. But no success. It just didn't seem to be working. That lead her to believe that it was broken.

Until it started to emit static interference. She frowned, and tried to adjust it again, all while feeling as sudden strange chill in the air.

There was then a tap on her shoulder.

"What is it?" Sally questioned, and turned around. The moment she did, her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in a silent scream, the radio falling to the floor at her feet.

Behind her was a ghost. Not the kind of ghost she remembered from back home in Halloween Town when they wandered the graveyard. No, this was a different kind of ghost, and it was bent on scaring her to pieces. It looked as if it had no limbs connected to its ghostly body, as well as what looked like a severed head floating above its neck. It cackled and moved toward her, waving its ghostly, floating hands.

"Whooaaaaa!" Came a shout from the doorway, followed by a noisy rush of wind.

The ghost suddenly tried to flee, but it was caught in the gust of wind that was..._pulling it back_? Sally watched in surprise as a short, balding old man with a bit of a roughened face came into view. He had a crude backpack, and held the hose of a vacuum cleaner. He was dragged along the floor as he tried to pull back, having the ghost caught in the gust force of the vacuum. It occurred to Sally that he was trying to vacuum the ghost!

Eventually, the old man, who looked to be a scientist, fell to the floor. The ghost escaped and disappeared, leaving no trace of its presence.

"Oooohh... Looks like I'm too old for this..." The old man complained, rubbing his head.

"A-Are you...are you all right?" Sally approached him slowly, shining her flashlight on him.

"Hop-diddidy-doo! Of course I'm all right, my dear!" The old man grinned. "Come, come, let's go back to my lab. We have much to talk about in getting you prepared for all of this."

Puzzled, Sally had no other choice but to follow him out.

XXX

It turned out the old man did indeed have a lab, hidden in the forest not too far off from the mansion. Actually, just some yards away, in the trees. He conducted his experiments and research there, as well as having a training room, a gallery, and an underground basement chamber.

Like Dr. Finkelstein and Igor back in Halloween Town, he was much shorter than she was.

"Best if I introduce myself to you, lovely lass! I'm Professor Beetlestein! I was once from Halloween Town, partners with Dr. Finkelstein!"

"Oh, he's my creator!" Sally exclaimed. "You knew him, then?"

"Sure did, lass! Then I left Halloween Town to further my research and set up a lab right here! So, why are you here, anyway? It's no safe place for a lady like you!" Professor Beetlestein said, tipping his glasses a bit.

"My...my husband went missing when he came to try to find the mansion." Sally explained in worry. "I'm trying to find him."

"Ho ho ho! So you must be Mrs. Sally Skellington! The Pumpkin Queen! Yes yes, your husband did indeed show up here! He went into the mansion, and...I'm afraid he never came back out." Professor Beetlestein said, shaking his head.

"Oh! Jack..." Sally uttered in solemn worry, hanging her head low. It was just as she feared.

"Now now, don't get so down, Sally!" Professor Beetlestein patted her arm. "There's still hope yet! You just need to find him! Now then, about your mansion...you say you won it in a contest?"

"Yes, but it doesn't make sense... I never entered a contest at all. Let alone one that gave away a mansion." Sally said.

"Hmm...well this is strange, and yet what is stranger is that this mansion you see there hasn't always been there. No sir! It only just appeared the other day, and I couldn't believe my eyes! As you can probably see by now, the place is overrun by ghosts! They got your husband, Sally."

"What?.! But he's the Pumpkin King! How could they have possibly been able to capture him?.!" Sally exclaimed.

"No one knows, child. But you see, these ghosts are experts in trickery, so it's very likely that they tricked him somehow! Ghosts can be real tricky souls! Ho ho ho! Pardon the pun." Professor Beetlestein giggled. "Anyway, I'm going to have to equip you to brave the dangers in that mansion, Sally! This here is an invention I learned upon finding the blue prints from an old friend, Professor E. Gadd, who lives in the Mushroom Kingdom!" He held up the crude vacuum cleaner to her. "This, my dear, is the Poltergust 3000! This extravagant invention will be able to suck up those pesky ghosts!"

Sally took hold of the vacuum, known as the Poltergust 3000, examining it curiously. It would fit on her like a backpack, with a belt around the waist. She pulled it on, hooking the hose and her flashlight to the belt.

"Oh yes! I just remembered!" Professor Beetlestein handed her the radio. "I see you found my radio! I invented it to detect ghosts, so it will warn you when one is nearby! Took me five years to develop that technology, my dear! Oh yes!"

"I thought it was broken..." Sally took the radio, and hooked it to the belt as well.

"It isn't, my dear! I assure you! I can even communicate with you through it!" The professor grinned. "Now listen, the best tactic to suck up the ghosts is to of course make sure you catch them off guard! It won't be too hard, even if they spot you! All you have to do is shine your flashlight toward them. They don't like the light, you see! It will do wonders for you! And before you go, I have one last thing for you! There may be enemies and ghosts in which you can deal with using this little gem!"

Sally watched as Professor Beetlestein reached for a jar, which contained a bouncing green blob. "Ooooh...what is that?"

"My dear pal Finkelstein invented it, and gave me the recipe! He calls it Soul Robber! I myself...call it Flubber." He explained, unscrewing the lid.

Opening the jar, the green blob, known as Soul Robber or Flubber...jumped out and latched onto Sally's right arm, much like a small, thin snake coiling itself around her.

"Flubber...Soul Robber..." Sally murmured, and looked at the Professor. "What can it do, Professor?"

"Well my dear, it can expand, take on different forms, and can be of great help to you in sticky situations!" Professor Beetlestein agreed with a grin. "With ol' Flubber and the Poltergust 3000, and the strength of love in your heart, you'll conquer the haunted mansion in no time!"

"If it can save Jack..." Sally murmured, looking to the Professor again. "Thank you very much, Professor. I appreciate your help."

"Think nothing of it, my dear! Now you go in there and save your man!"

Nodding, Sally went to the front door of the lab, with the Professor following after her. She exited, and headed toward the mansion, gulping a little. She was still quite shaken up, but knew that she had to do this. To save Jack. To save anyone else who might've been in trouble.

Coming up to the front steps, Sally turned to see the Professor waving at her from within the trees, wishing her good luck. She nodded to him, and approached the entrance doors with caution, turning her flashlight back on.

Grasping the door handle, she turned it, opened the door, and began to step inside.


	2. Keys

**By the way, I changed my mind. XD **_**Oogie's Revenge**_** IS a part of this story's canon. :)**

**One last thing. This will be shorter than the actual **_**Luigi's Mansion**_** game, but I hope it'll be all right. ;)**

* * *

><p>Now inside the mansion, Sally went upstairs to the room she had been in where she met the Professor. The room was still dark, but there wasn't a ghost to be found.<p>

_Obviously not, they're hiding._ She thought, shining her flashlight around the room slowly. _Ghosts can appear and disappear, after all._

The radio then emitted static, and she whirled around to find the same kind of ghost from earlier. It floated toward her menacingly, uttering strange little grunts and snickers. Remembering the professor's advice, Sally shone her flashlight right at the ghost. It gasped, flinched and shielded its eyes from the bright light. She then whipped out the vacuum hose from her belt and flicked the switch on it, activating it. The ghost's "tail" got caught in the suction, making it scream out and panic, trying to flee away from it. Sally, caught off guard by the force, ended up sliding across the floor and falling down as she tried to hold it.

Unfortunately it caused her to lose control and release the ghost, who then disappeared.

"Oh...I almost had it." Sally sighed, managing to stand back up.

Much to her surprise (though it shouldn't have been), the ghost re-appeared. She shot up like a bullet, and beelined toward it, already turning the Poltergust 3000 back on. The ghost this time didn't see it coming, and tried to flee yet again, but she was too fast for it, and managed to suck it up completely. It was gone, completely gone, much to her relief.

"Whew..." She began to wonder if it would be this difficult to capture the other ghosts she would find. One could only hope not.

The lights turned on then, as if on their own, which surprised Sally greatly. Going over to the desk, something caught her attention. Sitting there, as if waiting for her to find, was a map. A map of the mansion. She quickly took it, looking it over. It chronicled all three floors, including the basement. Taking a marker off the desk, she quickly marked down the rooms she'd been in, as well as the door she remembered that couldn't be opened due to a broken lock. According to the map, she was near the bedrooms.

Seeing that there was nothing else of interest, Sally left the room. Out in the hall, she tried two more doors, both had broken locks. One door did work, it was the door to the Master Bedroom. The room was dark, and there were ghosts in here. Her radio was going off, and within the darkness, she could hear inaudible noises that sounded like strange voices. She wandered into the room, shining her flashlight around, biting her lip.

Right then, a skeleton ghost popped out from her right side, making snarling noises as it tried to scare her. Startled, Sally quickly turned, shining her flashlight on it. The ghost squeaked and then was stunned, as if frozen in place. Taking her chance, Sally quickly managed to suck up the ghost, this time with more ease. Two more ghosts popped out, one that looked like the disembodied one she had first seen, and another one that looked like a grotesque skeleton. She tried sucking one up, but the other actually managed to physically push her aside, knocking her to the floor.

"How did they do that...?" Sally groaned, managing to stand up as the ghosts laughed and then disappeared from sight. Her radio went silent for a moment, and then started emitting static yet again.

When the ghosts reappeared, Sally quickly turned, stunning them with her flashlight and then sucking them up. She breathed a sigh of relief as the lights went on in the room. Turning off her flashlight, she went over to the vanity to see if there was anything she could find. Nothing really, just a few notes.

_**I left the key to the clock tower in the top drawer. You can't miss it!**_

Sally was intrigued. A key to a clock tower? She read the other note then.

_**That nosey skeleton man sure got what was coming to him, eh, Chief?**_

This made her eyes widen. Skeleton man? Did that mean Jack? She shuddered to think, and then read the last note.

_**It's IN the clock tower.**_

What was in the clock tower? Sally frowned a bit, but thought nothing of it. There was something in the clock tower, and she had to find the key for it.

She went over to the chest of drawers. They were all empty. Sally then crossed the room toward the four-poster bed, and inspected the bedside table. Sure enough, in the top drawer was a key with a tag attached that had _**Clock Tower**_ written on it. Satisfied, she placed the key in her pocket and then left the room.

According to the map, she had checked all the rooms of this corridor, so she left and headed back to the foyer. That area was lit up as well, much to her surprise. There was another door across from her, so she headed through it. There was yet another corridor, which was dark. Something caught her attention as she looked up at the ceiling, given that there were the faint glows of ghosts. They were bats. Just hanging there like bats did.

"Ghost bats?"

She continued on, seeing that they weren't bothering her, and they didn't set off her radio, either. As she passed under them, they suddenly took flight, flapping their wings loudly as they flew over her.

There were three doors in this corridor. The map read that one was a washroom, another a bathroom, and the other was a library.

"Hmmm..." Sally bit her lip.

She tried the door nearest her, but the lock was broken. No dice. She tried the other one, the bathroom, and went inside. It had a bathtub, and a sink. There was nothing of interest, so she left.

Sally tried the library next. The room was dark, her radio was going off, and she heard the strange, inaudible voices again. But there was something else. She felt a strange chill in the air. The window in this room was tightly shut, so it wasn't a draft from the outside. It didn't even feel like a cold wind. Whatever it was, it was affecting the air around her.

That was when a new ghost popped up, and the sight of it made Sally scream. Not entirely in horror, but also in _despair_.

"JACK! Nooooo!" Sally fell up against the wall, her eyes wide and covering her mouth. "No...!"

The Jack ghost sneered menacingly and then proceeded to make scary faces at her. She shivered, not from fright, and felt as if her entire body was crumpling. She could not believe what she was looking at. Jack was a ghost! They had gotten him, and destroyed him completely...and all that was left was a ghostly apparition. Tears pooled in her eyes.

"Jack...Jack..." Sally reached out with one hand in vain, tears now streaming down her face. "It's me, Jack... I'm sorry I couldn't save you..."

Now the Jack ghost looked as if he were scared and then disappeared altogether. The room lit up, and the chill in the air was gone. But for once, Sally just didn't notice or care. Instead, she collapsed to her knees, burying her face in her hands as she began to weep. Jack was gone...and now his ghost was gone, not even that remained.

"This can't be happening..." Sally sobbed, her shoulders trembling. "My dearest Jack...why did you have to go...why couldn't I save you..." She felt ten times as worse as she did upon when Oogie Boogie had re-captured her and Sandy Claws, and she had later heard the Mayor announce that Jack had been blown to smithereens.

As she wept, that was when her radio went off again. But it wasn't emitting static as it seemed to do when warning her about a ghost being nearby, it sounded like something else. She even then heard a voice coming through it.

"-_lly...cgrgnzzzzz...Sa...ccrrzzzz...Sally? Sally, are you there? Come in!_"

Sniffling, Sally managed to extract the radio from her belt, holding it up as she managed to get a clearer signal. She recognized the voice, it was the Professor.

"_Sally, do you read me? Over!_"

"Y-Yes...I-I'm here, P-Professor..." Sally sniffled once more, wiping her tears.

"_Sally! You sound so upset! Whatever is the matter, child?_" Asked the Professor on the other end, sounding concerned.

"It's...it's my...it's my husband...he's...he's gone...Jack...Jack is dead..." Sally began to sob all over again, nearly dropping the radio. "_Really_ dead...dead undead...he was a ghost...and I...I...he...He just wasn't himself, and then he...disappeared altogether before the room was cleared up."

"_Now hold on a minute, that seems illogical! Ghosts such as these don't kill anyone! Only trick them, and even torture them sadistically! But wait, you say he disappeared from sight? Well then, if this truly were the ghost of your husband, wouldn't he rather want to stay around you? Dear Sally, you have nothing to worry about! That was a Shapely Ghost! They're known to change shape, into just about anything, as they have no real form! They can either transform into something you fear, or, they can take this around and mess with their victims by transforming into the most important person in their lives, as some kind of sick way to make them believe they're dead!_"

Almost immediately, Sally's eyes snapped wide open as she stopped crying, perking up. "...Wait...so you mean...if that was just a ghost playing tricks with me...then...Jack could still be undead?"

"_Precisely, my dear! You need not worry! I'm still looking into the situation, and perhaps I'll find some answers as to where your husband is. In the meantime, you press on and do your best!_"

"All...all right, Professor." Sally wiped her eyes and managed to stand up. "Um...by the way, I found this key to a clock tower...and I don't understand that. Where is this clock tower?"

"_Why, it's in the courtyard! Strange, I know! But it is back there!_"

"I see." Sally nodded, keeping note of that. "I found a map of the mansion, so I shouldn't have too much trouble getting around."

"_Splendid! That's absolutely marvelous! You take care then, and I'll keep you posted! Good luck, child!_"

"Thank you, Professor." Sally murmured, and then the line went dead. She hooked the radio back to her belt, and then took a minute to explore the room now that it was lit up. She felt _so_ relieved that Jack could still be all right. At least, she hoped so. She hoped that seeing that Shape Ghost wasn't about to have been a premonition. But at least for now, she could still press on and keep looking.

There wasn't anything of interest on the desk, but Sally did find some notes that were taped to the shelves, so she took them and read them.

_**Leave that key in a SAFE spot! The code is still the same as it always has been.**_

"A code..." Sally murmured to herself. "Blood red books..."

_**Chief, remember the order of the blood red books! That will help you figure out the code. Line 'em up in the correct order from left to right, there are six of them for the code! It's easy to remember, and they were stories in their prime, I tell you!**_

"Hmm..." Sally bit her lip, seeing that there was some kind of a code within some blood red books.

But what would the code access? She knew that whatever it was, it would lead to a key. But where? Where did she have to input the code?

Sally held onto the notes, and searched around the library. A lot of the books were dark, dismal colours, but so far she couldn't find these blood red books. She did, however, spot something hidden behind a few other books on one of the shelves. Moving them aside, there was a safe right in the wall. It had a rotary combination dial, obviously.

_Maybe that's what the code accesses, and that's where this key is_. Sally thought.

Moving along, she finally found the blood red books. There were ten of them. She needed six out of these ten books? But which ones? And how would she find the code they relayed? Sally looked at the extensive note again, trying to find some kind of an answer. She must have read it three times before it was starting to form in her head.

"Stories in their _prime_..." Sally murmured thoughtfully.

She looked at the books, seeing that they were indeed numbered by volume. Ten of them, there were volumes 89, 23, 108, 55, 7, 67, 11, 76, 41 and 8. They were set up in that order, and completely out of any order at all. She found it odd that many volumes were missing. Judging by the rest of the books around, they weren't here. Either they were in a different room altogether, or for some odd reason, the collection consisted of this.

"Prime..." Sally repeated to herself, biting her lip. Having spent a good portion of her existence with a scientist, she had an extensive knowledge of numbers and mathematics problems. "The code consists of the volumes that are prime numbers, then. The six books have prime numbers."

Sally pulled out the volumes that weren't prime numbers, putting them aside. That left volumes 89, 23, 7, 67, 11, and 41. Now, she was confused. She had them set out, the books were supposed to somehow illustrate a code. But what? What was she looking for? And what did the other note mean, when it said to line them up left to right? That logic was just full of holes.

"Align them in the correct order from left to right... But what does it mean?" She said to herself, frowning in thought.

Now she paced a bit, trying to figure this out. Lining them up, left to right, in the correct order. But what was the correct order, and what left to right have to do with it? Was it meant to confuse her, or did it mean something?

All of a sudden, it hit her.

"Left to right...wouldn't that mean chronological order then?" Sally wondered out loud.

She decided to try it. With that, she re-arranged the books so that they were in the correct order from lowest volume to the highest. Now the arrangement was 7, 11, 23, 41, 67, and 89. With them in order, she wondered what next. They still didn't look any different at all.

"If I add them all up, it's 238." Sally said thoughtfully, and looked toward the safe. "Hmmm..."

Going over to it, she gave it a try. Rotating the total number, going at 2, 3 and 8 on the dial, there was a click, indicating she had gotten it open. Inside was a key, this time with a tag that read _**Courtyard**_. Taking the key, she could see nothing else of interest, so she left the room.

As she stepped back into the hallway, she heard a trickling sound. Confused, she looked down and saw red water spilling out from under the door to the bathroom. Taken aback, she opened the door, coming to see that the bathroom was partly flooded with bathwater that was tinted blood red. It was all coming from the overflowing bathtub. That was odd, the tub had been completely drained earlier on. Who had turned on the water? The lights were no longer on, and her radio was going off, indicating the presence of a ghost.

Slowly she took out her flashlight, stepping into the room. Her shoes clomped wetly along the half-flooded floor. A ghost, a bright blue ghost with a grotesque face and hands, but no legs, popped right out of nowhere. She immediately shone the flashlight upon it, stunning it, and vacuumed it up. The lights turned back on, but she still had a water problem. Quickly, she went over to the tub and rotated the brass knobs to turn off the water, which it thankfully did.

Looking into the tub, she could see that it was sludge. It was reddened water, from blood or some kind of dye, she didn't know. But it smelled horrible, and looked to be filled with mud, grime, and other kinds of substances. The question of whether or not she should drain the water or leave it was plaguing her then. She knew she would have to reach in within all of this gunky sludge to do so. Normally, she was nowhere near disgusted with certain things and was perfectly accustomed to this kind of thing. But at the moment, she just couldn't help but cringe a little. There was no telling what was in there. It could have even very well been a trap.

Then again, she wondered if maybe it could somehow help her to find a key that she needed to get through the locked doors in the foyer. Since the direction to the courtyard was through those doors, she had to find a key for them.

In the long run, everything would lead her closer to Jack. That was why she was even here in the first place, to find him.

Gulping a little, Sally stepped closer to the tub, reaching her hand toward it. She took a deep breath and held it, trying to block out the horrible smell. Reluctantly, and slowly, she managed to stick her arm into the tub. The water felt slimy, and there were things within it brushing against her. But she held in there, reaching it more until it was up her entire forearm. With luck, she quickly found the drain plug, and pulled it right out as fast as she could.

"Eww." Sally gagged, releasing her breath. She quickly trotted over to the sink, inspecting her arm. It was tinted red, and quite dirty from the gunk as well. Again, nothing she wasn't used to, but it was a nuisance. She turned on the water at the sink, which came out cleanly. She washed off the gunk and blood water, which managed to wash off all right.

Going back over to the tub, she was surprised to find a large key in it. It was silver, and a lot bigger than the other keys she had on her person right now. Reaching into the tub, she grasped it and inspected it. Whether or not it would open those doors in the foyer was beyond her, but hopefully they would.

Done with this floor, Sally left the bathroom and headed out to get back downstairs. Much to her relief, the corridor was lit up as well.

* * *

><p><strong>Here's a sneak preview for a later chapter. :) Enjoy. And yes, much like in the game, that's what happened to poor Jack. ;)<br>**

* * *

><p>"Sally...dear Sally..." Jack murmured. "You have to get out of here, and save yourself. They could get you, too!"<p>

"I'm not leaving here without you, Jack!" Sally insisted, tears in her eyes. "I'm getting you out of here. I swear it."

Jack blinked, his eye sockets pretty wide, before he smiled at her sadly, but lovingly. "Oh, Sally... I don't know what I would do without you, my darling..."

"Jack..." Tears ran down Sally's face as she looked at him with a sad smile as well, pressing her hands harder against the painting, as if it would make her feel him more. But alas, no such luck. "I love you."

"And I love you, dear Sally..." Jack said softly.


	3. Nightmare Transition

**Well I have to thank those of you who've reviewed so far! :) Thank you very much! I appreciate it, and I'm glad you guys like the turn of Sally saving the day! OwO**

**Okay, so...yes. What I'm about to do here, I think you might know. ;) I'll explain why I did it the way I did later, since I don't want to spoil it. But yes, this is just a bit of the **_**Silent Hill**_** elements! :D**

XXX

Trying the key in the keyhole of the doors, it relieved Sally to see that this was indeed the key for these doors. She came into yet another set of dark corridors, so she took out her flashlight, turned it on, and started walking around. Ghost bats flew over her head (she could hear them again), and as she went along, her radio was emitting static yet again. Suddenly, as if hanging from the ceiling, a pale green ghost with buggy, beady black eyes and a very beak-like mouth, along with flailing arms started yelling obnoxiously into her face.

Sally squealed in surprise, especially since the ghost's face almost reminded her of Dr. Finkelstein. She quickly shone her flashlight at it, stunning it. Wasting no time, she quickly sucked it up in to the Poltergust 3000, which was a bit of a struggle since she had to practically get it down from the ceiling, pulling really hard, but it was easy enough. With that ghost taken care of, Sally looked at the map. The rooms in these corridors led to a laundry room, dining room, kitchen (beyond the dining room), ballroom, and a music room, as well as another bathroom and washroom. There was also a door that led to the courtyard, which was further back, and there was a set of stairs that led to the next floor, and a door that led to the basement.

Deciding to try out the other rooms first, Sally tried the door nearest to her, the door to the laundry room. The lock was broken, so no dice. The next door was the one that led to the washroom, which she entered. There was a toilet and a sink, but looked to have nothing of interest, aside from her radio going off.

The same ghost as the first one she had seen then appeared as the toilet lid flew up, screeching at her. Sally stunned it, and sucked it up. The lights in the room turned on, and Sally had just been about to leave when a key fell from a nearby upper shelf and onto the floor with a metallic clang. She picked it up, seeing that the tag read _**Ballroom**_. A key to the ballroom. She wasn't sure what lay with in a ballroom of all places, but since she had a key for it, there was no use ignoring it.

Sally went to the ballroom door, unlocking it, and stepping inside. The room was very, very big, and surely a great place to hold balls. Obviously. A little smile came to her face. When she and Jack had gotten married last year, there was also an Autumn Ball, a new tradition that was revived. She normally wasn't a huge party person, and would have preferred something low key, but she truly did love dancing with Jack all evening long...how devilishly handsome he looked in his Phantom suit (Since it had a cape) that night, and how happy she had felt that her dress turned out lovely, and that he couldn't keep his eyes off her the entire evening, just as she never took her eyes off him.

Shaking her head and trying not to lose herself in memories, she continued to explore the ballroom. The room was dark, so she had to rely on her flashlight, as well as her eyes adjusting to the darkness. The entire room was open and big, there wasn't much to hide in or behind, aside from some chairs along the walls. There was also a platform toward the back, probably serving as a stage where a band would perform. There were some paintings on the walls, but they were grotesque and weird, even for her taste, as a native of Halloween Town.

"Whoever hung those up has bad taste." She remarked.

Ghosts then screeched and appeared all around her, and they were different kinds of ghosts this time. They were much smaller, and there were three of them. One was purple coloured, and looked female. The other was red, looking male. The last one, also male, was shorter and a dark shade of gray. They danced around her, singing an annoying tune, seeming to taunt her. Producing the Poltergust 3000, Sally quickly sucked them up after stunning them with her flashlight.

A skeletal ghost, which looked a lot different than the first kind she'd seen before, appeared then, singing and dancing. Sally stunned it, and then sucked it up. Dancing, pale white ghosts then appeared, one female and one male, as if lost in their own world. The male was incredibly tall, and actually revealed to be skeletal as well. The female ghost looked ragged and tattered, almost as tall as the male ghost.

Sally felt as if her heart, if she had one, were jumping. There was something so eerily familiar about them, driving so close to home. Shaking it off, she stunned them, and found that upon sucking them up, they came together as a pair rather than individual pair. That was when the room lit up, indicating all the ghosts had fled.

Now her radio went off, but again, in the way that the Professor was contacting her. She extracted it, turning the dial to hear him better.

"_-lly! Sally! Come in, Sally!_"

"Yes, Professor. I'm here." Sally said, now taking a seat on one of the chairs. "I'm in the ballroom, and I just defeated some ghosts."

"_Ah, splendid! That's great to hear, my dear! You must be having such a long, long night! Why don't you come on back to the lab? I have something to talk to you about!_"

"All right." Sally nodded, though he couldn't see it. "I'll be right there."

The line went silent, and Sally replaced the radio back where it was on her belt, taking one more look around the room. She did spot some notes on the wall nearby, so she took them down to read.

_**The code is 1399. Remember it, Chief!**_

Another code? What to? Sally wasn't sure, but kept it on her to keep for later.

_**There doesn't seem to be much around, but I have a feeling that there is something horrible in the air. And not the good kind, either. I'd better keep going, I don't want to keep Sally waiting too long back home.**_

Sally's eyes widened upon reading this note. She recognized this handwriting, and the fact her name was mentioned only proved it. It was a note Jack had written. Probably as some kind of progress journal. Either way, he wrote it.

"Jack..." Her hand clutched the note a bit tighter and she held it against her, as if it were the most precious treasure. "Oh, Jack...I hope you're all right, my darling..."

Taking a moment to gather herself, Sally left the room to head out of the mansion to the Professor's lab.

XXX

"Well well! So this is Jack's handwriting, then!" Professor Beetlestein exclaimed as he read over the note. "According to its wording, it seems it was written quite early on, before he went missing! Though I'm sure you guessed that already, my dear!" He chuckled.

"Yes, though I don't know if he wrote it in the ballroom, or if...well, whoever is behind all of this had or his henchmen had placed them around." Sally said, biting her lip in worry. "I have been finding some notes around the mansion, and they offer clues sometimes."

"Hmmmm...I see..." The Professor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Well my dear, this could work to our advantage! Come with me, I'd like you to meet someone, she just arrived a few minutes ago!"

Sally followed him through a door leading into a more comfortable, casual room of his lab, and found a witch woman sitting there. She was tall, dressed all in black, including her hat, and was actually fairly attractive for a witch. She had a small table in front of her with a crystal ball in the shape of a toadstool set on it.

"This is my niece, Helena." Professor Beetlestein explained. "She's a witch hailing from the Mushroom Kingdom, in fact! Helena dear, this is Sally Skellington, the Pumpkin Queen herself!"

"How do you do?" Helena gave a smile toward her.

"Hello..." Sally said shyly, waving at her a little.

"Helena has been had a crystalmalocy for about five years now, and she's quite a pro!" The Professor explained. "She can also read the spiritual vibes of people from objects they have. Why don't you show her Jack's note, and see if she can help you?"

"Um...all right." Sally went over, sitting on a small chair across from the witch, handing her the note Jack had written.

"All righty, let's see." Helena studied the note for a moment, reading it, and concentrating. "Hmm...okay...I definitely feel something, he sure wrote this. Let's have a look into the crystal ball." She gently waved her hands around it, mumbling some words under her breath. "Okay, Crystal Mushroom Ball! Show me, show what what we seek!"

Sally stared with amazement at the Crystal Mushroom Ball, seeing that within it was an array of what looked like fog, and wondered if maybe Helena could see what she couldn't?

"I see...I see...! I see Jack." Helena said, wide-eyed. "He's alive...or, well, undead, I should say. But he's not...quite _here_."

"...What do you mean?" Sally raised a would-be eyebrow, very puzzled.

"The spirits tell me that your husband is..." Helena probed deeper, concentrating. "He's...oh my. He seems to be _inside a painting_!"

"I-Inside a...painting?" Sally blinked, wide-eyed. "How can that be?"

"I don't know...must be some kind trickery by the ghosts in the mansion." Helena frowned, and then sighed, lowering her hands. "No good. The spirits left me now."

"Inside of a painting, you say? Hmmm...that is quite the conundrum!" Professor Beetlestein rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Oh..." Sally wasn't sure whether to be relieved or worried. She felt Soul Robber, or Flubber as the Professor called him, seem to pulsate a bit against her wrist. _Why didn't I just use Soul Robber to drain the tub for me..._ She thought, shaking her head. "If he's inside of a painting...how do we get him out of it?"

"Not to worry my dear, I have but managed to complete my friend E. Gadd's invention that can help! A handy one, I must say! Come ladies, I'll show you it."

Professor Beetlestein led them to the basement of the lab, where they came to a large machine the seemed to be placed and stretched across the length of the room.

"This, ladies is the Ghost Portrificationizer!" The Professor said. "His life's work, I do declare! With this baby, you can turn the ghosts you capture right into portraits! And it works in reverse, as well!"

"Heh, well! Looks like if you find the painting Jack is in, you'll be able to bring it back here so we can undo the curse." Helena smirked.

"Oh...well, that's wonderful..." Sally said in relief. "I just wish I knew where it was..."

"Don't worry my dear, you'll surely find him!" Professor Beetlestein assured. "You can do this Sally, you just have to keep going, and believe in yourself."

"...I will, Professor." Sally said without hesitation. "I am not leaving this mansion until I find him. Thank you both so much for your help, I'd better keep going..." She gave them a little grateful bow before leaving the room.

Helena smiled as she turned to her uncle. "You know, I have to say, it's really sweet how she's willing to go through all this dangerous stuff just to save her husband."

Professor Beetlestein chuckled as he nodded in agreement. "I couldn't agree more, kiddo. I could tell, the moment I met her, how much she truly loves him."

Helena snickered and nudged him lightly. "Anything you say, old man."

XXX

Back inside the mansion, Sally went through the same corridor from earlier. She tried the door to the basement, it was locked. She would need a key for it. She then went further down, trying the door to the kitchen, she found that it was also locked. The door to the washroom was locked, the lock was broken on the door to the bathroom, and the music room was also locked. A few more keys to find, she surmised.

Giving up, Sally went to the door that led to the courtyard, unlocking it. A few ghosts tried to sneak up from behind her, but she knew of their presence thanks to the radio, and sucked them up quickly.

Outside, in the courtyard, Sally shone her flashlight around as she could see electrical lampposts around, but all of them weren't lit. The sky was dark blue alongside some storm clouds, there were dark silhouettes of dead trees rising menacingly against the sky, along with a full moon. If anything, she would have normally thought this to be a wonderfully horrible setting.

But it only added to how tense and scared she was feeling. Oh yes, it was always good to be scared, wasn't it? From where she came from, it was a joyous feeling! But this wasn't a good kind of scared feeling. A good kind of scared feeling came from the fun-loving spirit of Halloween, the induced fear from scary, chilling and startling feelings and images. This, however, was not. Far from it.

Sally came to what she saw to be the clock tower. This still puzzled her. What was a clock tower doing near a mansion, and in its courtyard? This was certainly strange. Then again, she could see right now that this was by far the most _normal_ thing she had seen ever since coming to this forsaken haunted mansion. She shone her flashlight along it, looking for the doorknob and keyhole. Using the key she'd achieved earlier, she unlocked it and went inside.

Nothing was in the interior aside from the sound of the cogs working up above her. There was also a metal, rusty ladder, leading down an open section of the floor. Carefully, she lowered herself onto it, and descended down. She did this awkwardly, since she still held her flashlight in order to see where she was going. After what seemed like an endless way down, she finally came down below. There was another door a few yards ahead of her, which she went through.

A small desk sat at the end of the room, with some memo pads, and a key sitting on its surface. Curious, Sally tiptoed over and read the memos to herself.

_**I can't believe we got him! It was almost too easy! Man, their town will never know what hit 'em!**_

Sally nearly crumbled this one in anger. But she regained herself and read the next one.

_**Here's the key to the basement. You can use it to access the generator room, Chief. Make sure you keep it in a good spot.**_

"Well, thank you for the information." Sally said softly, and read the last memo.

_**Keep OUT of the third floor storeroom! You know very well why, just don't go in there, or else! Also, the code is 50923. Remember it!**_

She had no idea what this meant, but decided to hold on to it for now. She took the key, which had _**Basement**_ written on the tag, and put it in her pocket. Seeing that there was nothing of interest, she decided to leave.

Coming back to the ladder, her ears suddenly caught a strange sound in the distance. Loud, though distant, warbling...

"...Sirens?" Sally questioned out loud.

There was no mistaking that the sound she was hearing right now was an air raid siren. It was completely unlike the alarm siren from back home, which had been a cat's wail thanks to the device at the end of the Mayor's hearse.

"What could it mean?" She wondered, feeling a tense uneasiness wash over her.

Shaking it off, Sally quickly, though carefully, climbed back up the ladder.

Once at the top, back onto the solid ground, Sally headed back outside into the courtyard.

Was it her imagination, or did it get darker?

Strange, unsettling sounds were then heard from nearby. Almost something like evil laughter, along with animalistic growls. Sally trembled visibly, looking around nervously for any signs of ghosts. A rush went past her, making her squeal in fright before she broke into a run, hurrying back inside through the back doors of the mansion.

Panting, she stood with her back against the doors for a moment, trying to catch her breath. Had something really been out there, or was it just her imagination running wild? It had to be. She heard nothing coming from outside, certainly no hurrying footsteps or someone or something's attempt to get inside.

"What is happening here..." Sally moaned, closing her eyes for a moment.

She stood straight, opening her eyes, and then gasped in fright.

Either she was somehow in the wrong place, or she was imagining it. Whatever it was, this was _not_ the same corridor. The flooring was steel grating, which below it seemed to be endless darkness, the walls were rusted and covered with blood and grime, as well as any other kind of unidentifiable substance, and the air was heavy and oppressive.

"What...what is this?" She shone her flashlight around, trying to make sense of all this. How had the decor, let alone the entire _layout_ of the structure change so dramatically?

This was more than just a haunted mansion. This was a bad nightmare world.


	4. Spider Worm Battle

**Hello and welcome back! :D Well, so now, the mansion has gone to the Otherworld! D: Oh no! How terrible!**

**The inspiration for bolting back inside in fright, comes from the ever-awesome user on known as Phelan "Phelous" Porteous (reviews bad horror movies), who said that back when he first played **_**Silent Hill 1**_**, the music was on really loud in the courtyard and he thought that the strange growling noises within the music were some kind of giant animal monster, so he had Harry bolt back into the school quickly, only to find that the floor was steel grating and that there were dead bodies everywhere!**

**So that's what we got here! :D **

**One more thing, as you may have noticed, the ghosts all contain some kind of symbolism, and so does the siren. ;) That will be made clear later on!**

**And oh yes, BOSS BATTLE! O.O Not so many of those, but here's the first one. X3 The music for it, if you want to hear what I had in mind, look up "Silent Hill 3 Split Worm music" on YouTube, that's it. :D**

**The sequence is similar to the first boss battle in the aforementioned game, too. ;)**

* * *

><p>This had to be some kind of a nightmare. And not the good kind.<p>

Nevertheless, despite it all, Sally trekked on. She was not about to let some convoluted change in atmosphere stop her from saving someone she loved. Either this was some kind of an elaborate trick by the ghosts, or there was some kind of other force at work here. Whatever it was, she had to brave it.

_I can't just run away in fear, especially of something of the unknown. _Sally told herself, slowly making her way down the corridor. _After all, I am the Pumpkin Queen, of Halloween Town...a place where fear and frights are to be induced. Whatever this nightmare world may be, it won't stop me._ She had to be confident, and had to press on, no matter what.

The radio went off again, but seeing nothing ahead of her, turned around and came to see...what seemed to be a ghost, since it was glowing, but there was something very off about its appearance. Not just that it was a ghost she'd never seen before. This one was tall, had a female physique, a round head, flowing hair, and was floating along as if walking with an imbalanced limp. Not only that, but there were ghostly chains wrapped around her, confining her. It, or she, was making strange moaning and groaning noises of helpless distress while struggling against her confines. For a moment, Sally even couldn't help but feel sorry for the ghost. But when it leered and attacked at her with a swoop, Sally knew this was no time for sympathy.

Taking hold of the hose of the Poltergust 3000 and switching it on, stunning the ghost with her flashlight, she sucked at the ghost. But much to her dismay, no luck. Even when in range of it, the vacuum wasn't picking it up. But why? The only way that could be was if it was completely solid and heavy.

Sally blinked, realizing what was up here. The ghost did look more like a solid form than a transparent spectre. But how could that be? And how would she attack it now and suck it up?

Glancing down at her arm, she remembered Soul Robber, or Flubber, and realized what she could do.

Distancing herself from the ghost, she brought Soul Robber into action and twirled it above her head, much in the same manner that Jack had done once before. Then she launched the expendable green slime, which took on the form of a spiked mace, striking the ghost. The ghost recoiled as she yelled out in pain, and surprisingly, her body actually cracked, as if it were plaster. Repeating this, Sally struck it a few more times, before the body fell away completely, and then revealed a ghostly version of its form. Immediately, she stunned it with her flashlight and then sucked it up with the Poltergust 3000.

Sally continued on down the corridor, realizing now that somehow, there were ghosts that could somehow take on solidified forms with some kind of body armour that she had to break though to expose their spiritual forms. It made sense, though she wasn't sure why that was.

Right then, she could see a small alcove, which contained a steel grating wall, with nothing but blackness beyond it. On it was a piece of paper, with words written in blood.

_**Beyond the darkness lies a terror waiting to strike.**_

What was that supposed to mean? Sally paid it no further thought and started to walk on when she heard a loud clank from nearby. Turning back around, she saw nothing, but a new piece of paper was on the chain-link wall. Much to her surprise, only two words, also written in blood, were written on it, in the same place the previous piece had been before.

_**Behind you.**_

"...What?" Sally blinked, and turned around, as if to humour it.

She screamed in fright, backing into the grating wall behind her, her eyes wide. Hanging from some kind of rope was a rotted, mangled skeleton. Real or fake, she couldn't tell, but given the decayed-looking bones covered in grime, she wouldn't be surprised if it was real. Taking a few steps back, she took a deep breath, feeling both relieved that it wasn't doing anything to her, and that it also wasn't Jack either. It wasn't nearly as tall nor thin, anyway.

"Just a jump scare...this place is messing with me..." Sally managed, regaining herself and her balance before walking on.

Coming around a corner, Sally could now see that the walls along here were also of steel grating, like the floor. Nothing but an endless chasm of darkness lay beyond, and she had a feeling she wouldn't care to fall. There were also dead bodies, either skeletal, ghoulish, or humanoid, either laying about or actually hanging just out of reach. It was all such a disturbing thing to see, but she pressed on, knowing that they just had to be tactics to make her nervous and disturbed.

Sally came to a door at the end of one section of the corridor, and saw that the door was slightly ajar. Looking at the map, she realized it was the laundry room from earlier. But hadn't the lock been broken? Why was it open now?

She decided not to question the mansion's logic. Slowly, she stepped over to the door and carefully pushed it open, which made a metallic creaking.

It was a huge laundry room, but like the rest of the mansion, also contained a flooring of steel grating. The washing machines and dryers, there were eight of each in the entire room, were all rusted, dusty, and collected cobwebs. There were even splatters of blood in some areas of the machines. Sally held her nose. The smell in this room was putrid, even for her.

Searching the room, Sally saw another door, which, according to the map, was probably just a closet, given the small space on the map. She peered inside the closet upon opening the door. There was nothing inside, so she shut the door.

One of the dryers then suddenly had a door opening all by itself. Either by a ghost, or some kind of force. Then again, her radio wasn't going off, so it might not have been. Then again, nothing was making sense here at all. Sally approached the open dryer, cautiously, and peered into it. Then she shone her flashlight into it, seeing nothing.

"Nothing but dust." She said to herself.

Just as she headed toward the door to leave, there was a faint but still audible disembodied scream as a loud whirring sound was heard. Practically whirling around, Sally was shocked to see that the door and the inside of the dryer were splattered with a lot of blood, as if someone had just threw a bucket load onto it. Disgusted, Sally just held her nose and turned away, realizing that this yet again had to be a jump scare.

The closet door them suddenly creaked open, very loudly, as if telling her that she had no choice but to look at it. An unseen force opened the door completely, revealing a hole in the wall of the closet. A hole big enough for her to go through.

"What the...how did that get there?" Sally wondered, her eyes wide. She hadn't heard any kind of noise that would have made a hole this big.

She approached the closet, peering into the hole with her flashlight. She couldn't see anything, wondering if it was even safe to go through. Then again, what choice did she have? Carefully, she slipped one leg through, and her foot touched a solid though steel-grating floor. Seeing it was safe, Sally slipped through the hole and came into a new dark corridor.

Going through, the rag doll shone her flashlight around nervously. She couldn't help feeling so nervous, so _isolated_ in this place. Whatever this was, she just wanted to get out of here. But, she wouldn't do that. Jack was still missing somewhere in this mansion, and she was not leaving until he was found. Further ahead, spotted something. There was a small table up against the wall, and above it on the wall was a digit pad that seemed to open a safe.

Sally first read the notes sitting on the table.

_**The code's easy to remember, Chief!**_

That was of no help. She read the next one.

_**Key leads to the Music Room, so you can take it there to find what you need!**_

A key to the music room? This must have been what the code was about. Sally fished her pocket, and found one of the notes that contained a code. She tried the one that was 1399. There was a beep, a green light, and the safe door opened. Inside was a key, which had a tag that read _**Music Room**_.

Seeing nothing else of interest around here, Sally departed and went through the hole again to get back into the closet of the laundry room. She emerged back into the corridor, and headed around the corner again. Once she reached the door to the music room, she was dismayed to the find that it was completely inaccessible. The door was there, but so much was blocking it. Deciding to forget it, and since she had a key to the basement, Sally decided to use that instead.

Coming to the basement door, or so she hoped, Sally unlocked the door and stepped inside. A set of metallic stairs were ahead of her, seeming to lead down into an abyss of darkness. But, she braved it, clutching the railing, and going down the stairs very slowly, so as not to break her balance. After a while, she came to the bottom, finding another door, which she opened and stepped through.

A new corridor was presented then, and she felt a little uneasy. This wasn't on the map, so she had to make do of it for herself. She tried one door, but the lock was jammed. No way to open it.

Sally came into the next door, which she saw was a breaker room and generator room. Strangely, everything was on, and working. Making a note to come back another time, she left.

As she came back into the hallway, her radio went off, and two ghosts appeared. Like the first time, they too had body armour, so Sally had to fight them off with Soul Robber to break down their defences, and then sucked them up with the Poltergust 3000. With those ghosts taken care of, she tried the next door. Its lock was also jammed. The same could be said for the next one, so she scratched those two out.

The next door, however, opened easily, so she stepped inside. It appeared to be a sitting room, with a couch, a bookshelf, some chairs and living chairs, and a table. Probably for playing cards or games. Speaking of cards, there were six playing cards laying on the table. She went over to the table to inspect them. There was a Jack of Hearts, a Queen of Hearts, an Ace of Spades, Six of Spades, a King of Diamonds, and a Two of Diamonds. Kind of random, she wasn't sure what the point was.

A piece of paper sat next to them, with some words, again written in blood.

_**Five out of six make the code. Check the backsides and arrange them right. Should you get it wrong and it will see to the end of your night.**_

Sally raised a would-be eyebrow, wondering just what that meant. It seemed so easy, but so cryptic. Reaching out, she took one of the cards and flipped it over on its side. Much to her surprise, it had a number on it written in blood. It was the number zero. She checked the other cards, and they did indeed all have numbers on them, except for one. The numbers were 0, 9, 3, 5 and 2.

There was something familiar about those numbers. Sally reached into her pocket again, pulling out another note, which had a code that read_** 50923**_. Since the numbers matched, she figured this was what it meant. She took the cards, placing them in her pocket to use for later. Checking the room once more, she left.

Up further ahead, she came to a whole new door. There wasn't a keyhole, and she didn't have a key for it, but she could see five slots along the door. Was this where the cards were supposed to go? If that were true, why were they easy to find?

_Probably messing with me, making me feel as if it's all going to be easy, but then it might get harder._ Sally thought.

Paying it no mind, however, she inserted the cards into the slots, arranging them by the bloody numbers in the order of the code. There was an audible click, and she opened the door. Up ahead along the floor, she then came to a ladder. A ladder that seemed to lead down into an abyss of darkness. It made her wonder if going down there was such a good idea.

"Oh God..." Was all she could say, and exhaled once.

Holstering her flashlight into her belt, she carefully lowered herself onto the ladder and then slowly climbed down.

Down, down, down, down, down, down she went.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, her foot touched solid ground. She let go of the ladder, and then turned around as she headed through an archway, which led into a strange room, with some electric lights alit, though dimly.

The room was huge, almost like an enormous cave. Speaking of caves, she could see three cavern entrances along the far side of the wall to her left, along with three more along the floor, against the wall on the opposite side. What was this room? Where did it all lead? What was in here? Whatever was in here, it was locked out somehow. Either it was indeed important, or really was some kind of an elaborate hoax to waste her time.

Sally bit her lip, and glanced around a bit, unsure of what to do next. That was when a strange noise from her left reached her ears, and she turned her head to look toward one of the cavern entrances. That was where the noise was coming from, she was sure of it.

Her eyes grew wide at what she saw emerge.

A monstrous worm-like creature with great big eyes, a mouth covering its head that contained sharp teeth, and an elongated, grotesque, slimy-looking body, came slithering out of the hole. As it did, much to her surprise all the more, long, thin, hairy legs sprouted from its sides, giving it a spider-like appearance. It seemed to scatter around, opening its mouth briefly, before the jaws closed and it crawled toward one of the holes in the floor. Its legs disappeared into itself, becoming more worm-like, as it slithered down one of the holes in the ground.

Needless to say, Sally wasn't sure whether to be terrified or grossed out. This was too much, even for her. But that didn't matter now. She saw now that she had to fight this thing.

_Jack has battled monsters ten times his size before...that of which including that giant, monstrous Oogie Boogie form...If he can do it, so can I._ She thought.

The spider worm emerged yet again from one of the holes in the wall, sprouting its legs and seeming to swing its head from side to side, as if looking for her. Sally pondered for a moment about how to beat it, and once it opened its mouth, she had an idea.

Giving a quick but thorough twirl to Soul Robber, she launched the expendable slime toward the creature's head within its open jaws, striking it. As she suspected, it was its weak point, since it roared in pain and agony as she struck it a few times. The spider worm closed its jaws and then crawled over to one of the holes in the floor, disappearing through it.

Seeing its tactic, at least hopefully, Sally had the incentive to move more toward the central area of the room, keeping an eye on all the holes. Just in case may even trick her and come out one of the holes in the floor instead of a hole in the wall.

The spider worm came out again, through a hole in the floor. It crawled toward Sally as its legs sprouted out again, opening its jaws. She struck at its head and eyes yet again, going harder and faster than before. The spider worm creature roared in agony as it reared back, and then hurriedly crawled away through a hole in the wall.

_I shouldn't get overconfident...It could get nastier as I progress..._

Eventually, the spider worm came out yet again, through the hole in the wall next to the one it had gone through just moments ago. It opened its jaws, and sprayed a strange-looking slime toward Sally, who gasped and dodged it by ducking and crawling away.

"Eww." She had a feeling she wouldn't want to get struck with that.

The creature opened its jaws again, and Sally this time struck it all the more harder and faster, getting more and more used to using Soul Robber like this. Amazingly, it even felt as if the little being was really helping her out consciously.

With one more hit, the spider warm roared yet again in agony before it collapsed heavily onto the ground, before then exploding into a mini spider worm creature, no bigger than the size of her head. Repulsed, she quickly squashed it, killing it. She wasn't squeamish, but it did gross her out just a bit. She wiped her shoe along the ground, and looked around the room once more. A key fell into view, clattering onto the ground. Sally picked it up, seeing that the tag read _**3**__**rd**__** Floor Storeroom.**_

"At least now I'll figure out what the fuss is all about in that room." She said, pocketing it.


	5. Storeroom Discovery

**And now we're back! :D Also I should mention, unlike **_**Super Nightmare**_**, this epic isn't quite a musical. XD But there WILL be two songs featured. :D They are renditions. Of which songs? Not going to tell! **

**There is also one little song featured here. ;)  
><strong>

**A quick note about **_**Super Nightmare**_**, I moved it to the Mario/TNBC crossover section. :)**

**And yes, the music room puzzle was inspired by a **_**Scooby-Doo**_** cartoon.**

**So here we go! :D**

* * *

><p>Sally ascended the ladder, and emerged from the strange room down below. With a new key in her arsenal, she knew where to go next. Now she had access to the third-floor storeroom, whatever may lay in there.<p>

It wasn't long before she made it back to the main floor, and that was when, much to her utmost relief and surprise, that was when the environment around her seemed to suddenly change back to normal. Just the way it had been before the strange nightmare world came around. How did that happen?

She didn't care by now. This place didn't make a lick of sense. So why did she even bother to try to figure it out?

With no further ado, she mounted up the stairs, now holding out the hose of the Poltergust 3000 as she kept an eye out for any ghosts. The third floor landing was dark, unlike the rest of the lit up downstairs, and she had a feeling that there would be more danger up ahead. Bat ghosts flew noisily above her head past her, nearly making her jump.

Trying the door, she was dismayed to see that it was locked. Frustrated, she looked at the map, figuring out what to do next. It dawned on her that she did have a key to the Music Room, so maybe she could find some kind of clue there. Tucking the map away, she descended the stairs back down to the main floor.

She came to the music room, and unlocked the door, stepping inside. As expected, the room was dark. Her radio was going off, indicating the presence of ghosts. Moments upon walking in, and shining her flashlight around, a few of them appeared on either side of her. Quickly stunning them, she sucked them up, one by one. She stepped into the room further, and this time walked into a drum, nearly knocking it over. A plume of dust arose from it, making her cough and wave her hand in front of her face to fan it away.

Another ghost appeared in front of her, which she stunned and sucked right up. Lightning flashed outside, lighting up the room from the windows. Sally looked around, trying to take in the music room. There was a grand, black piano on the opposite wall ahead of her, a few drums, a harp, Xylophones, a Saxophone, and some other various music instruments, as well as sheet music on the stands.

On the blackboard, there was a piece of paper stuck there, another note. She went over to it, trying to read it with the flashlight.

_**Feed the bloody piano  
>See the Harp of the Dead<br>The Xylophone performs its Deed  
>Drum upon the bee<br>And dance in the night wind**_

Sally stared at it, completely confused. What was all of that supposed to mean? It didn't make any sense. Giving up, she explored the room, checking everything to see if she could find some kind of a clue. There was nothing of any interest, or anything out of the ordinary, unfortunately. But there was one thing.

There was blood on a few of the piano keys. Bloody piano keys. Did they mean anything? The strange note said something about a bloody piano. Only a few of the keys had blood splattered on, so was she supposed to play them, maybe?

With her flashlight in one hand, Sally lowered one hand down to play the bloody piano keys.

Nothing.

"Feed the bloody piano...what does that mean?"

There was a music sheet set on the piano, which she studied for a moment. Was she supposed to play that song? It was Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata. Did that bear any significance, or was it just there to confuse her?

Frowning slightly, she looked at the note again. Then the blood keys. Then the sheet of music.

Feed.

It struck her then.

"Feed. F-E-E-D...those are musical notes!" Sally realized, and knew exactly what to do.

She played the appropriate keys, seeing that those three keys, along with others, were splattered in blood. F, then E twice, and then D. The lights then turned on in the room. A reward for having partook in the puzzle, or just happened to occur, she didn't know.

As she looked back at the note, she realized that the words _Dead, Deed, _and _Bee_ were also spelling out musical notes, which corresponded with their respective instruments. Sally played out the notes on the Harp, the Xylophone, and then on the drum. There was a loud clicking sound, and a key fell onto the floor near the blackboard. Picking it up, she read its tag to see that it said _**3**__**rd**__** Floor Stairs**_.

"Wonderful..." She said in a small bout of relief.

Her radio crackled, and she then heard Professor Beetlestein trying to speak through, his voice interfered by static.

"_lly-! Eeergghhsszzz...-ly! Zggggrrrzzzz...there! Sally! Come in, Sally!_"

Quickly, Sally answered the radio. "I'm here, Professor."

"_Oh, there you are! We'd been trying to reach you for the past twenty minutes! What just happened to you?_"

Leaning against the wall, despite the interference of the Poltergust 3000 against it, Sally sighed and held her head. "I...well I... I don't know where I was. Professor...you didn't hear any sirens just some time ago, did you?"

"_Sirens? Why no, child! Why would we_?"

_He didn't hear them..._ Sally thought, and sighed once more. "Never mind. I have two keys now, one of them leads to a storeroom on the third floor. I already had the key, but I had to obtain another key to get past the stairs. I don't know why, but there seems to be some kind of fuss surrounding it, as though it's forbidden. Do you happen to know anything about that, Professor?"

"_Can't say that I would, Sally! Though I suppose now that you have access to it, you should go and see what it all entails!_"

"You're right." Sally nodded. "I guess that's all I can do."

"_All right! You take care now, we'll be standing by! Over and out!_"

"Of course." Sally re-inserted the radio into her belt and then left the music room.

Before heading upstairs, she checked the map of the third floor. The storeroom seemed to be at the end of the hallway around one corner, and there seemed to be bedrooms up there, as well as an art gallery, a pottery room, phone room, clock room, and another washroom and bathroom. There were also stairs to access the roof.

Ascending the stairs once again, and coming into more darkness, Sally brought out her flashlight yet again as she approached the door that would lead to the third floor corridor. She took the stairwell key, and unlocked the door. A part of her wanted to rush through and get it over with, but she slowed up for a minute. This mansion was creepy, and definitely had a knack for messing with her mind. She carefully grasped the doorknob, turned it, and pushed it open really slowly. Gathering her nerve, she pushed it open further and stepped into the third floor corridor.

As she expected, it was dark, and with the radio going off, there were ghosts. They of course popped up to torment her, to which she would stun them with her flashlight and then suck them up. She was getting better at this, but knew better than to get overconfident.

The same ghost from when the environment had been...stranger, appeared then, only without the armour. Sally sucked up that ghost as well, and since the lights didn't come on, nor did the radio cease, there were still more.

The first door was the art gallery. It was locked. The door to the pottery room had a broken lock. The washroom and bathroom were accessible, but each held nothing of interest, so she moved on. She came into one of the bedrooms next, and since it was a dark room, that meant it had to be cleared of any ghosts inside.

Inside the room, from what she could see as her eyes managed to adjust to the darkness, and the help of her flashlight, the bedroom was pretty simple. There was a double bed in the centre of the room up against the wall across from the door. Bedside tables sat on either side, each with a lamp. There was a closet, a dresser, a desk, and a couple of windows. A simple, comfortable, and very accommodating guestroom.

The radio went off, indicating the presence of a ghost, and sure enough, one appeared over the bed. It was a new kind of ghost this time. This one was small, and looked like a young child. Innocent, cute, sweet-looking, with big round eyes looking at her pleadingly. It almost made Sally not want to suck it up, but she knew she had to. She shone her flashlight at it, stunning it, and reluctantly vacuumed it up, just as it was squealing and crying in terror. It almost made her cry. But she remembered that it was likely just to test her, to mess with her head. That was what this haunted mansion had been doing all along, hadn't it?

Now the room lit up, surprisingly, which made her feel uneasy about it being so simple. But she shook it off and explored the room briefly. There was a note on the desk, which she read.

_**Stay OUT of the 3**__**rd**__** Floor Storeroom! Chief said so, you know! **_

Sally grimaced, pushing it aside. Yet another warning to stay out of the storeroom, for whatever reason that may have been. She looked around the room some more, and then exited it into the corridor. A few ghosts sprung out, surprising her a bit, but she took care of them. One of which included the little child ghost...yet again tugging at her heartstrings, if she had any, but knew she had to keep it together. She could not let these ghosts get the better of her. Ever.

Some of the bedrooms were locked, one of them had a broken lock, and the pottery room was also locked. Giving up, Sally conceded and decided to just go to the storeroom, and see what in the world all the fuss was about. She did have the key, anyway, so what was stopping her now? She guessed it may have been a bit of fear. That maybe there was some kind of a dangerous trigger within that room and that it would bring about a certain doom if she went in. But then again, what if it really was some kind of a stupid way to keep her out from something important they didn't want her to find? That often came to happen in situations such as this.

Maybe there _was_ something they didn't want her finding in that room. Either way, she couldn't just ignore it. She had to find out just what was behind the door of that room. A storeroom was certainly an odd room to keep "forbidden", but she figured they were either trying to be subtle (and failing), or were just a little misguided about keeping secrets, or were trying to confuse her. Somehow though, they either wanted her to think it was forbidden, or they wanted her to think it was nothing. She couldn't quite tell at all.

Sally continued down the corridor and turned around the corner to make her way to the storeroom, according to the map. It wasn't long before she came to the door, and eyed it. The door was blood red, unlike the other doors she'd seen around the mansion, but decided not to quibble about it for now. She took out the key and unlocked the door, then slowly pulled the knob.

Pulling the door open completely, Sally came inside, looking around. The room was surprisingly lit up, so she didn't need her flashlight. All around her, the room was intricate, fancy tiling, while the walls were made of stone. There were carved statues of ghosts, tigers and lions located in the corners, and ahead of her was the altar. It was sitting between two brightly lit torches, which served as part of the lighting. The rest was provided by a few light chandeliers.

This certainly wasn't a storeroom. It really had been some kind of a red herring of sorts.

"Sally!" Came an all-too familiar voice from close by.

Sally blinked and looked ahead of her, to the altar, just a little above it. On the wall, was a fancy framed paint portrait. But to her surprise, it was _moving_, and _talking._

Jack was in the painting! He looked as if he were stuck behind a wall of slightly textured glass. He was knocking on the surface with his hands, again as if it were a glass surface, and looking at her with happiness, relief, and worry. Helena had been right, he was in a painting!

"_Jack!_" Sally cried in immense happiness, and rushed over to the altar, getting behind it and standing up to the wall. "Jack, it's you! You really are inside of a painting!"

"I am...how did you find me?" Jack wanted to know, curious.

"I've been searching the entire mansion for you..." Sally placed her hands on the painting, while he placed his against hers on the other side. "Oh, Jack...the minute you went missing, I...I just couldn't sit around and not do anything. I wanted to try to find you and get you out of here!"

"Sally...dear Sally..." Jack murmured. "You have to get out of here, and save yourself. They could get you, too!"

"I'm not leaving here without you, Jack!" Sally insisted, tears in her eyes. "I'm getting you out of here. I swear it."

Jack blinked, his eye sockets pretty wide, before he smiled at her sadly, but lovingly. "Oh, Sally... I don't know what I would do without you, my darling..."

"Jack..." Tears ran down Sally's face as she looked at him with a sad smile as well, pressing her hands harder against the painting, as if it would make her feel him more. But alas, no such luck. "I love you."

"And I love you, dear Sally..." Jack said softly.

"Jack...

_You give me strength...  
>You show you care...<em>" Sally began to sing sweetly and softly, her smile growing more loving.

"_I cannot fail with you so near...  
>I know I'd be lost without you...<em>" She went on. The familiar words he had once sang to her, were now coming right out back to him.

Jack smiled, singing along with her as they sang together yet again.

"_We'll stand together  
>Now and forever...<br>And I'll tell you, this very troubled night...  
>That we will set things right...<em>"

A soft sniffle escaped Sally as more tears poured down her face. She lay her forehead against the painting, as Jack did the same, laying their foreheads together, despite the barrier separating them.

"I'm getting you out of here, Jack..." Sally whispered.

"I...I trust you, Sally." Jack whispered back. "You'd better hurry, the King could be back at any moment..."

"What...? Who do you mean?"


End file.
